This article, by
Mark Whittaker, appeared in the May 2001 issue of the Community News in our regular feature
"Local History
& Heritage with the Marple Website"

The problems experienced
in the April issue seem to have been resolved
and the layout and presentation of this month's article was back to
previous standards. Having said that, due to space constraints all the
pictures were not included and the text was edited, with a few errors
being introduced. The article is reproduced in full below, with all the pictures and no editing.

Henry Bradshaw-Isherwood inherited Marple Hall at the age of
fifty-six following the death of his father, John, in 1924. Henry tried living
at the Hall for a short while but soon returned to London, placing it in the
hands of caretakers.

In 1929 Henry put most of the Hall's contents up for auction and
they were disposed of during a two day sale on Tuesday 30th
and Wednesday 31st
of July that year. The sale was announced in local papers and the High Peak
Reporter of 22nd
June carried a lengthy article which began:

"The
preliminary announcement of the forthcoming sale of antique furniture, armour,
china, pictures and tapestries in Marple Hall, the spacious mansion of Mr. Henry
Bradshaw-Isherwood, has created much interest in Marple and district for the old
hall is one of the few historic residences of which natives to the village are
justly proud."

As
the reporter made his way from room to room, he went on to describe the contents
of the hall that were to fall under the hammer.

Catalogue

A thirty-one page illustrated catalogue detailing all 378 lots
was also produced and sold for 2 shillings each. The catalogue entitled two
persons entry to the hall to view the lots in advance of the sale. I'm fortunate
to have been loaned an original copy of the catalogue by Martin Davies of
Marple, this includes many prices pencilled in the margins by the person who
attended the sale, making it a most interesting document.

The results of the sale were published in the High Peak Reporter
of 3rd
August, this recorded the prices realised on the most valuable items. The
importance of the collection was recognised even back in 1929, although it did
not stop it being broken up:

"The
whole of the articles belong to the Bradshaw-Isherwood family, and so far as can
be traced most of the antiques have been at the hall for several generations. At
the death of the late Mr. John Henry Bradshaw-Isherwood, the majority of the
articles offered for sale were examined by Government experts, and exempted from
estate duty, until sold, on the grounds that they constituted a collection of national
importance."

By combining information from the catalogue and the newspaper
articles, the following report gives a feel for the highlights of the sale. For
added interest and to put things into perspective, the prices have also been
converted to today's values and shown in brackets. It's almost certain however,
that most of the items are now worth many times these values and in some
instances, possibly even priceless.

Worcester and
Delft china

THE FIRST DAY
Collectors and antique dealers from all parts of the country and from the
Continent gathered at Marple Hall, as the first lots were offered. There was
spirited bidding for the china and porcelain as a 17th
century English Delft blue dash charger decorated with Adam and Eve achieved
14½ guineas (£612). A magnificent 116 piece Chamberlain's Worcester dinner
service, decorated with exotic birds and flowering shrubs in brilliant enamels,
realised 32 guineas (£1,350) and a sum of 51 guineas (£2,150) purchased an
exquisite hanging drop shaped cut-glass chandelier.

There was keen competition for the arms and armour, full suits
fetching from 15 guineas (£630) to 56 guineas (£2,360). A lot including two
pikes with fine heads and poles covered in velvet, similar to those in the Tower
of London Armoury and dated 1480, were purchased for 40 guineas (£1,686).
Another lot including a two-handed sword, probably of the reign of Henry VII,
and also like one at the Tower of London, was sold at 14 guineas (£590).

PAINTINGS, PICTURES & BOOKS
Mr. Brady, the auctioneer, advised that the family portraits and pictures
listed in the catalogue had been withdrawn from the sale.
(There were
approximately a dozen of these – where are they now, I wonder?)
A
painting of Thomas Coventry, Lord Privy Seal during the reign of James I,
fetched 43 guineas (£1,812) and one of Queen Elizabeth I of England, in
magnificent attire and richly bedecked in jewels, was sold for 45 guineas
(£1,897). A sum of 45 guineas was also paid for a portrait of the Earl of
Essex, and 40 guineas (£1,686) for one of Sir John Crowe, President of the
Royal College of Surgeons. A three-division stump needlework picture was
purchased for 41 guineas (£1,770), whilst a lot described as "sundry
reproductions of famous pictures, etc."
was sold for just 5 shillings (£10).

Hundreds of books were sold in combined lots. Eight volumes of
the works of Ed. Burke, and twelve of Johnson, both 1801, fetched £5 15s
(£230). Another lot consisting of Ormerod's "History of Cheshire",
Earwaker's "East Cheshire Past and Present", and eight volumes of
Rushworth's "Historical Collections" in tooled leather and printed in
1722, achieved £12 (£481).

FINE TAPESTRIES

Gobelins
"Winter" tapestry

Tapestry cut around fireplace

The attendance on the second day included dealers from all parts of the
country and principal interest centred on the sale of the tapestries. These
attracted a would-be buyer from Spain, but they all eventually went to a London
dealer. A large early 18th
century Gobelins tapestry, representing Winter, fetched 600 guineas (£25,296).
A companion tapestry, representing Autumn, achieved the same price despite
having been cut to fit around the dining room fire place! At least the severed
portion was included in the lot. These two tapestries were part of a set of four
depicting the seasons, the other two at that time were known to be in the Royal
Palace of Fontainebleau.

Another tapestry, this time late 17th
century Flemish and representing Summer, probably also from a set of four, went
for 400 guineas (£16,864). Two further Flemish tapestries of the same period,
representing Harvest and villagers in rural occupations were sold for 160
guineas (£6,745) and 170 guineas (£7,167). The catalogue describes all these
tapestries as being brilliant in colour, the black and white photographs we have
only hint at how magnificent they must have been.

six assorted lots of silverware

RECORD PRICES FOR SILVER
A remarkable feature of the sale was the high price paid for the silverware.
A record of 325 shillings per ounce was achieved when a set of six plain
trencher salts, dated 1720 and weighing 25½ ounces, were bought by Mr. Van
Engal, a Liverpool dealer, for £414 7s 6d (£16,637). The six lots illustrated
in the photograph of silverware were sold for a combined price of £737 14s
(£29,620), the most expensive being the 14" diameter hammered and chased
tazza at £316 17s 6d (£12,722).

Oak cupboards, chests, tables and chairs too numerous to mention
all achieved high prices. One of the most interesting lots was the antique oak
canopy bedstead covered in mottoes and said to have belonged to the notorious
Judge Bradshawe, who signed the death warrant of Charles I. This realised 52
guineas (£2,192).

17th century brass bound oak chest

The sale added considerably to Henry's wealth. I have records of
the prices for only 40% of the items sold, amounting to £6,920 (£277,850).
When he died in 1940 he was declared to be worth £75,858 19s 9d, or a
staggering £2.9M in today's terms. The tragedy is that the real cost of the
sale was the breaking up and scattering to all corners of the world this "collection
of national importance." Today none of the items sold remain in Marple, unless of course, you know
different!

Acknowledgements:Thanks to Martin Davies for the loan of
his original catalogue
and Marple Local History Society for providing copies of the missing pages.
Also Glossop Heritage Centre for their newspaper archive.